OUT WOODS INTO WATER
Tiger puts two in the drink at 17 as Tommy rises to the surface
TIGER WOODS admitted he was “ticked off” after seeing his hopes of winning a third Players Championship potentially sink on Sawgrass’ unforgiving 17th.
The 14-time Major champion began his second round five shots off the lead only to rise up the leaderboard with three birdies in his first seven holes.
But the former world No.1, who had teed off at the 10th, then dumped two balls in the water on the iconic par-three 17th on his way to a damaging quadruple-bogey seven.
That forced Woods to settle for a one-under 71, leaving him nine shots off the blistering pace set by English ace Tommy Fleetwood.
The Ryder Cup hero, who is on the hunt for his first PGA Tour title, birdied the first and third either side of holing a bunker shot for an eagle on the second as he rocketed to 12 under with a 67.
Woods had narrowly avoided the water on the 13th and 16th and made birdie on both occasions. But his luck ran out on the 17th when his tee shot pitched on the green only to then trickle off the back edge.
The 43-year-old opted to play his next shot from the dropzone but a pulled approach took one bounce before plunging into the water again.
And after finally finding the green Woods two-putted from 20 feet.
He said: “The second wedge didn’t really surprise me – it was too flat. The first one I hit surprised me.
“I was pretty ticked. I was determined to get it all back.
“Other than 17 I really haven’t done a whole lot wrong. Anyone who makes the cut has a chance.”
Woods regrouped to play his final 10 holes in two under but sitting on three under he finds himself some distance behind on-fire Fleetwood.
Jim Furyk turned back the clock, shooting his best score at Sawgrass to give the Southport star something to think about at the summit.
The former Ryder Cup captain took advantage of benign morning conditions, reeling off an eightbirdie eight-under 64 at golf’s unofficial fifth Major.
It was the 48-year-old’s lowest score in 80 rounds at the tournament as he signed for a nine-under 135 halfway total, the same as England’s Ian Poulter who carded a 66.
American Keegan Bradley, who shared the overnight lead with Fleetwood, fell back with a 73 that left him down in six under.
Furyk, who lives near the course, said: “I’ve had some good weeks here – almost won five years ago – and I’ve also had some rough weeks here and that’s the nature of this course.
“It’s fun to be at home and have a lot of folks cheering. When this year started I didn’t even expect to be in the field. I kind of squeaked in late but I’ve been playing well of late so it was nice to get that opportunity.”
“I was the last guy in the field so it was a nice opportunity, one I did not expect. Last week I treated it like I was in the field and got ready.
“It was definitely a sigh of relief Sunday night finding out I was in.”
Aussie Jason Day, the 2016 Players champion, used his power to pick off birdies at three of the four par-fives en route to a 66.
The former world No.1 said: “I played par-fives pretty well over the last few days. Irons shots were a lot better and I gave myself a lot more opportunities.”